She'll be richt then--she'll be better, indeed, than she's ever been.

But not if things go badly--she can never stand that." Jamie had aye been carefu' wi' his siller; when he knew the wife was going to present him wi' a bairn he'd done his part to mak' ready.

So the few pound he had in the bank had served, at the start, weel enough.

The strikers got a few shillings each week frae the union; just enough, it turned out, in Jamie's case, to pay the rent and buy the bare necessities of life.

His own siller went fast to keep mither and wean alive when she was worst.